Tag: fun

Would we go back a bit to recall those special memories about teachers that had really taught us something special, something we still remember? Are there any? Or Your teachers had that traditional style that gives students no more than what’s already been in books.

Marva Collins was a talented teacher, believing that every child has a right to learn and can learn. She hasn’t got a certificate in Education; her degree was in secretarial science, but her teaching methods became far better than many of those highly qualified teachers. So what was special about her?

Collins resigned from the teaching position at Chicago public school because she didn’t believe in the system that teaches to the test and eliminates children with learning disabilities. She launched Westside Preparatory School which was a one-room school with eighteen students of different abilities. There, she cared for every single student in the class. She gave good quality and quantity of education, she gave love and respect, and her students learned how to be themselves and to choose a better way of living.

These are some of her phrases which she used to inspire her students;

‘’You have the choice, the right to choose what kind of person you want to be.’’

‘’This is my life to use or to throw away.’’

‘’You are not in school for your parents, for your teachers, or for anyone else. You are here for yourselves.’’

There is a movie available on Youtube about her story. It’s great, why not watching?

This summer holiday, my children wanted to visit the pyramids and go to any nice beach in Egypt. The beach was a good idea but visiting the pyramids in August means we would melt. Anyway, both plans didn’t work which was great because the weather was too hot to go out during the day.

As usual, we spent the holiday visiting the family which was good for my children to practise their Arabic. Sometimes, we went shopping at night; big shopping malls have been one of the modern characteristics of Cairo. My children liked to go to some of them but this holiday they were shocked at the prices; when I asked them to calculate the difference between the Egyptian and English pound, they realised that it’s the same.

One of the main things I always mention in my posts is that I really love being on holiday with my children. Together; we laugh, we play, we talk, we eat, we try new things, we go shopping, we see old photos, remember old days, listen to old tales, we sleep by sunrise, we get up at noon, and we really have fun even though we couldn’t have any of our plans done.

Smiling is like giving alms, this is the title of the song I have recently listened to. I don’t know any Turkish and I wish I would learn it one day. I found its translation on the internet.

I think It’s a good way to teach children the importance of a simple act like smiling in such a bright cheerful way! What is more important, is that I knew about on the first day of the school holidays; let’s be optimistic!

I am not a big a fan of football as a game or any special teams. In fact, I don’t understand that much about the game rules and strategies; I just know the basics or it can be less though my boys are good players and love the game. This world cup, I found it so funny to watch the game with the boys and teasing them by asking questions; I just want to understand what is going on. They like it when I watch but they found my questions a bit annoying, ‘mama, look at the screen,’ they would complain. Of course, I did but I just want more details; why the goal was cancelled if the ball lodged like a bullet in the middle of goal net, something like that.

I watched the game between Egypt and Russia but I couldn’t stand it. Yes, that’s true. I support my country but I found it so boring. I looked at my son, he was on his phone. He was bored too. This means I was right. There was no intense in the game, the players were not playing, they were scattered everywhere. And the star Mohammad Salah looked so poorly and couldn’t do his best without being supported. I gave up and left.

Yesterday, it was Iran and Spain. My question was which team is best-known? ‘Really, mama. Is this a question?’ My son exclaimed and laughed as if it was a jock. ‘Spain, mama. Spain is one of the top teams.’ I really don’t know but when I watched the game, I realised this fact. They really played so well but the Iranian played well too, most of the time they were defending but they did what they were planning to, I think.

This is part of my humble experience about football this world cup. Let’s see how far it will go!

Children has a wild imagination which is really nice, good and interesting but sometimes this imagination, instead of being fun, turns your day or may be your week upside down. Here comes the problem!

One day, my daughter’s friend told her that a bone was stuck in her throat and she went to see her doctor, he got it out and she was fine, playing and happy; a simple tale (may be made up by her friend), but it wasn’t so for my daughter; she listened and imagined the process, stored the details in her brain for later which was not that far.

She imagined everything, she ate or would eat, would be stuck in her throat, vegetables in her soup, mashed potato, everything soft or hard; how long I explained and how she listened carefully was good, really good, at least her panic was a bit relieved and she would eat little and go to play, but soon she would come back, crying, repeating the whole story.

Finally I explained how her body is very clever; there is a liquid inside her mouth (is it Saliva? I think so) helps her sharp teeth mash and ground all of what she eats, some water or juice will do a great job to also help her strong tongue swallow and push everything through her throat straight away into her stomach. And it works.